One Piece: The Dark Descent
by FreudTastic
Summary: Zoro, Tony Tony Chopper and Nico Robin wakes up from a terrible nightmare, only to find themselves trapped in one as they wake up inside Castle Brennenburg. Rated M for future violence and possible gore.
1. The Arrival

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

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><p>The Castle of Brennenburg stood tall and majestically on its massive hilltop, gazing upon the small countryside with its pride and glory, towering spires of stone and wood stretching into the skies as massive, sturdy rock walls were seen protruding from the building's outer sides. But what was most intriguing, was what was on the inside… twisted things, horrible abominations, and indescribable horrors were awaited to be unlocked, to whomever trespassed onto its doomed doorsteps. And three, unlucky souls had been the victims of actually appearing in such majestic, yet cursed hallways…<p>

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><p><em>"<em>_Don't forget... some things mustn't be forgotten. The shadow hunting me... I must hurry. My name is Daniel; I live in London at... at... Mayfair... What have I done? This is crazy. Don't forget, don't forget. I must stop him. Focus! My name is... is... I am Daniel.__"_

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><p>After hearing those words echo in his head, a man grunted as he woke up from the floor of a stone building. He stood up slowly, and shook his head, rubbing his face with one hand to get the dizziness out of his eyes. He slowly got used to his surroundings, and groaned a bit more. "Where the fuck am I?" he asked himself as he looked around. The pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, was still rather unused to the surroundings, as this was not what he had fallen asleep from; he was sitting near the mast of a ship, almost falling asleep for good, when a loud bump and a strange, male voice had ringed in his head. And now, he was here, with no one in sight except for the hallways in front of him.<p>

"Aw man, this is some shit I've gotten in now…" he groaned as he decided to move onwards, and so he did, taking long strides through the corridors. It was strange, really. The paintings on the walls… the knight armors standing in row… but most of all, the lack of people. "Hm? Isn't this a castle of some sort… you'd think it has lots of servants runnin' around here, but no…" he shrugged once as he decided to keep going, until a door opened up in front of him, going wide ajar, yet no one opened it. It had opened by _itself_. "Huh? Eeh, must've been the wind…" he said to himself as he kept on his journey through this weird, unknown building. There was something disturbing in the wind… as if something was telling him to just turn away and walk out of it all. But Zoro paid no heed to such superstitious things, and just kept walking. Right as he passed a bookshelf, something fell out of it. He cocked an eyebrow, and bent down to pick it up. He looked at it; it was a small, cylinder object, and it seemed to have a lid. He picked it up and opened it, seeing a small amount of easily flammable tinder in it.

"A tinderbox?" he asked, before he stood up and put it in one of his pockets. That's when he realized, and saw it too; in his sword sheaths, he notices that the blades themselves were _missing_. "Shit! Where's my blades?" he exclaimed as he looked for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. Grumbling and deciding not to linger on and look for them, the sword-less swordsman just growled and walked on, deciding to find a way out of this place, and fast. Another door swung ajar, but this one didn't bother him a bit. He just went straight into it to get a possible clue of where he was right now, and as he walked in, he suddenly could hear a loud, underground howl, or more like a roar, bellowing inside his mind as his head boggled a bit and he held it to not fall down from the sudden shock.

"A-Aagh! W-What the heck was that?" he groaned as he rubbed his head slowly, looking back up and seeing that a lantern had fallen off a table in front of him. He walked up to it and picked it up, seeing if there was any oil left in it. A little. Enough to last him for now, he hoped, as he hung it on his belt and he walked into a neighboring room. This one looked like a study room, with two bookshelves standing near a desk, which had a candle, an ink jar and a goose-feather pen, and a small scribbled note. He went up to the desk and picked up the note. "Ngh… curse that I can't read." He groaned. "Where's Nami or Robin when you need 'em…" he said as he folded the note and stuffed it into his pocket. He looked around, seeing if there was something that could help him here. He found a couple more tinderboxes, but that was it. He sighed a bit as he leaned against a wall, but unknowingly leaned against a switch that tilted. "Oi, what the hell now?" he said in shock, but as he sat a bookshelf nearby open up and reveal a passage, he smirked a bit. "Heh, seems like I'm in luck." He said as he walked into the passage, not knowing what would await him…


	2. The Entrance Hall

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

The longer Zoro went into the corridors, the more he could feel this rather… disturbing, lingering feeling. It was as if someone, or some_thing_, was _following him_. But as much as he looked around for whatever he thought was following him, nothing was ever to be seen except the empty, eerie hallways behind him. The darkness seemed thicker, and whenever the green-haired man decided to light his lantern, it only served to further thicken the darkness in the distance. "Sure is awfully dark in here…" was the only witty thing the swordsman had to come with, and finally, he reached a thick, wooden door, much sturdier than the other ones. He looked behind himself, as well as around the narrow corridor he was in, not seeming to see another way out. "Well, here goes nothing, he sighed as he pressed the door open, the hinges creaking ever so slightly as he opened it up, and went inside. Inside was a large chamber, much seeming like an entrance hall, but some of the pillars that had once decorated this mighty hall had collapsed and now laid in rubble piles along the floor. He groaned a bit as he saw there was light flooding into the room at least, and he put out the lantern to save oil. But now, as he took a step into the great chamber, his head hammered in pain and he held his temples, trying to not be consumed by the pain, as the voice from earlier echoed again, but this time, a second voice was heard as well. A much older and noble one;

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><p><em>"Alexander, is it inside the castle?" the first voice asked, being the one Zoro had heard from earlier, and was probably the person named 'Daniel'. The other person, this 'Alexander', only replied with a smooth voice;<em>

_"In a manner of speaking. Come, bring the lamp. You've been to the refinery have you not?" the first voice, Daniel, seemed to doubt at the question, a bit of hindrance in his breath, as he then spoke up._

"_I don't believe I have. Is it connected to the… what did you call it?"_

_"The inner sanctum, my most precious chamber, Daniel. And it lies well beyond the refinery." There was a pause in Alexander's voice, as if he wanted to make a grand revealing or something, before he spoke anew; "In fact… It lies beneath the very stone of Brennenburg."_

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><p>The moment Zoro snapped out of the rather disturbing flashback, he had bumped into someone, and now they both fell until Zoro landed on top of whoever had gotten in his way. He had staggered around as he would hear the voices, and now he opened his eyes to see the blue eyes of a woman stare back into his. The woman had raven black hair down to her shoulders, slightly darker skin, and was dressed in a black jacket and purple pants with high heel shoes. Instantly recognizing her, Zoro shot off of her and helped her up. "R-Robin?" he gasped.<p>

"I should advise you not to walk without looking, Swordsman-San." The woman only replied with a faint smile. "It could end up rather fatally next time." She was an expert of scaring people with her sense of detail and humor, and Zoro actually flinched a bit as she said that last thing. "But for now, do you know where we are? All I can make of this is that it's a rather old building, possibly from the late 1400's." she said as she moved her palm along the surface of the cold stone, dusting it off as she saw the particles of dirt catch on her hand. "And it is rather messy down here, too."

"Yeah yeah, save the archaeologist bullshit for later…" Zoro grumbled to the woman. "Anyway, can you help me with somethi-!" just then, he was pounced on by a small figure, which clutched onto his leg. "O-Oi! What the hell is thi-" he lifted his leg and saw a small, anthropomorphic reindeer clutch onto his leg, his height not longer than that of an average child. He wore a pair of red shorts and a wine-red jacket, along with a blue backpack and a pink top hat with a white cross on its front. But the most peculiar about him was his blue nose.

"Z-Zoro!" he squeaked frightfully as he nuzzled onto Zoro's leggings. "Robin!" he added, seeing Robin. "T-Thank god I found you here! It's so scary here! I don't wanna be here anymore, I wanna go home!" he was scared half to death, it seemed, as he wanted nothing more than to just run away from this place. Zoro calmed him down by forcing him off his leg and put him down.

"Calm down, Chopper!" he groaned a bit irritated as he looked around. "I dunno where the hell we are, either, but I ain't freaking out!"

"It's because you're always the brave and awesome one…" Chopper mumbled as he fiddled with his hooves a bit, looking around a bit, too. "What is this place? It's really big."

"Yeah, and empty too." Said Robin as she looked around. "I haven't seen any servants or soldiers around here, the whole place seems deserted. At least I found some of these to light a few candles." She said, holding up a couple of tinderboxes.

"So have I!" Chopper squeaked in and held up two more, and then showed a small bottle with a green sign on it. "And this! It's Laudanum, as far as I know. It's capable of healing minor injuries!" Zoro was glad that they had Chopper on their side, at least; the little guy was really smart, and had a lot of know-how in alchemy and medicine. And Robin was good with old books and texts, so she was just a heaven-sent gift right now. He nodded a bit as Chopper put the Laudanum and the tinderboxes he, Robin and Zoro had collected in his backpack.

"Keep that handy, we might find more stuff to use." He said as he turned to Robin. "As I was saying Robin, I need your help." He said as he took the note out of his pocket, and held it up to Robin. "Read this. I can't read for shit." He grumbled, but Robin just chuckled and nodded, taking the note and pulled out a pair of small glasses from her pocket, putting them on.

"As you wish, Swordsman-San." She said and began reading the note. The letters were scribbled sloppily, as if the writer was close to falling down at any second, but she managed to read it properly;

_19th of August, 1839_

_I wish I could ask you how much you remember. I don't know if there will be anything left after I consume this drink._

_Don't be afraid, Daniel. I can't tell you why, but know this. I choose to forget. Try to find comfort and strength in that fact. There is a purpose. You are my final effort to put things right._

_God willing, the name Alexander of Brennenburg still invokes bitter anger in you. If not, this will sound horrible. Go to the Inner Sanctum, find Alexander and kill him. His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you._

_One last thing, a shadow is following you. It's a living nightmare, breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can._

_Redeem us both Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and murder him._

_Your former self,_

_Daniel_

"It seems he wrote this as a memory note to himself for whenever he'd find this place again." Robin said as she wrapped up the note and placed it in Chopper's backpack, the reindeer shivering after the note had been read.

"S-S-Scary!" he said, shivering from top to toe as he was frightened out of his wits. "A-A shadow is following him? M-Maybe that shadow is after us!"

"Don't be stupid, Chopper." Zoro said as he looked around. "It's obvious that 'Daniel' person did something to piss it off, so it will just be chasing after him, probably." He looked around again, and as he stood up, the same, underground roar could be heard, the walls shaking and their minds flaring with pain as Zoro, Robin and Chopper all slightly gasped in pain and held their heads, until the roar ended. "Jeezus Christ, what the hell is that shit!" the older man growled.

"It's giving me a migraine!" Chopper squeaked.

"I think it's some form of creature… this shadow that Daniel mentioned. It's in this castle." Robin said as she collected her calm. "Whatever it is, we need to stay as far away from it as we can. Or else we might be consumed by it."

"Great idea, except we don't know what the fuck it is!" Zoro grumbled, and he felt Chopper hold his leg again, though not clamping onto it this time. "Either way, I think we should look for clues as to how to get the fuck out of here." He said, looking to a big, wooden door down a linked hallway, looking like the entrance. "Oh… well that was easy." He went up towards the door and was about to open it.

"Zoro-San, don't!" Robin warned, but just then, the roar rumbled in the castle walls again, and the doors were instantly covered in blood-red, organic tissue, hindering Zoro from opening it as when he touched it, it stung his skin and he forced his hand back, holding over a gash on his hand.

"FUCK!" he bellowed, rubbing his hand. "That thing scratched me!" Chopper went up to the tissue and examined it from a safe distance.

"Hmm… I'd say this is some form of organic mold!" he exclaimed. "Although it's much **too** organic to even be that… I've never seen such a thing before!" the reindeer was both intrigued, bewildered and fearful of the organic stuff clinging onto the wall and doors, as it covered their only escape route from this place.

"Well damn it, what do we do now?" Zoro asked as he rubbed his bruised hand. "There's no way out, and our only escape route is now covered in some aggressive, organic shit!" just then, they heard Robin open up a wall that was down a stone staircase, leading to a room signed 'Refinery', and as she looked inside, she gasped a bit.

"I think we have another problem…" she said as Zoro and Chopper went down with her. "Look!" she opened up the door, and the sight made Zoro flinch and Chopper scream and leap up on Zoro's face; the same, organic tissue material had formed over the passage to the refinery, blocking their path. It seemed something once again tried to interfere with their process in this place.

"What the hell is going on here?"


	3. The Archives

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

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><p>After having regained their composure and calm over the situation, the trio of Straw-hat members were contemplating on where they should go next. They had gotten to the base fact that there were three more rooms for them to discover, and each one of them could contain clues as of where to go next; the archives, the wine cellar, and the laboratory. But as they had tried the wine cellar door, they found out that the door was locked, and they would need a key to unlock it. So their only options were the laboratory and the archives.<p>

"I think we should check the Laboratory!" Chopper piped up, sitting in Zoro's lap as he had sat down on one of the broken pillars. "There might be recipes of how to make some sort of chemical that will allow us to break through that organic tissue to the refinery!" Zoro nodded a bit and shrugged.

"But without knowing where the chemicals we need are, how will we make one?" he asked the reindeer, which shot down his hopes and made him sigh, twirling his hooves a bit.

"Then I suppose we should start looking in the archives?" she asked as she looked upstairs to the archives door. "We might receive some notes of where the chemicals we need are, as well as find out more about this place." Both of the others nodded as Zoro stood up, Chopper perched atop his shoulders as he walked along with Robin.

"Lead the way then, Robin." He said as the woman smiled and nodded slightly, leading them upstairs. The entrance hall was well-lit by the light beaming in from the windows that weren't paneled up, and as they got up to the top of the staircase, they saw another door, one they had not seen before. "It's no use; there are wood panels all over it." Zoro said as he looked over it. _'If only I had my swords… where the hell did they go?'_ he then thought as Chopper then stopped his train of thought by pulling his hair slightly and telling him Robin was walking ahead of them. "Alright, alright! I'm on my way…" he followed the raven-haired woman as they all then stopped outside a sturdy door, leading into the archives. Pushing it open, the trio entered into a rather gentle atmosphere, candles being lit along the walls as they looked over the wooden corridor.

"Wow… this looks much nicer than the entrance hall!" Chopper squeaked happily.

"Yeah. We should still be on our guard, however, and make sure that we don't stray too far." Robin said as they walked ahead. They noticed several doors, along with an entrance to a large, windowed hall at the end of the hallway. The doors led to several different offices and reading rooms, entitled 'Rare Books', 'Catalogues', 'Study', 'Old Tomes', 'Local History', 'Floor Plans', and 'Maps'.

"Well… which one should we take first, Robin?" Zoro asked as he turned to the woman, who rubbed her chin in thought, and then she looked up at the corridor in front of them again.

"Let's try with going from the top and down." She said, as they all wandered back to the entrance of the Archives and went up to the 'Rare Books' room, and opened it. Inside was a desk with three drawers, and a small cupboard at the right side of it, along with some bookshelves at the walls. The three started inspecting the table for possible clues, hoping to find something to help them.

"I found tinderboxes!" Chopper said after having opened some of the drawers, picking out the cylinder-like objects. Meanwhile, Robin found a note that she picked up. It seemed old; and much likely from someone's journal. She read it over, and waved the other two over to hear.

"Hey, listen to this!" she called to them, and Zoro and Chopper grouped around her as she read;

_16__th__ of May 1839_

_The unflinching African sun has continued to plague our expedition, making it impossible to dig until dusk. How Professor Herbert managed to find the location in these vast plains of nothingness remains a mystery to me. When I asked him about the tomb again, he told me about the legend of Tin Hinan, "the mother of us all". An interesting story in its own right, but I can't help feeling there's more. Later that evening, we uncovered a passage beneath the dunes leading to a sand-covered stone structure. The professor was confident it was the tomb we sought and ordered the others to clear the way- late into the dark cold night._

_Tomorrow, I shall lead the men into the ancient structure, hoping to reach the burial chamber. No matter what the professor is keeping from me, the dig should yield something interesting to take back to London and the British Museum._

"Sounds like Daniel were on an expedition…" Zoro mumbled as he looked around the room. It was spooky, in a way, that no one still had come to look for them, or that anyone had shown up at all yet. Robin and Chopper felt the same way, yet they were not showing it as clearly as Zoro was. Maybe because he was a swordsman and relied a lot on his senses to help him, was the reason he was so spooked? No one knew, however, as he regained his composure and said solemnly; "Let's keep going. Don't wanna linger here for too long." And the other two nodded and followed, Robin keeping the diary note. They went to the next room which was 'Catalogues', and went inside. After finding more tinderboxes in the drawers, Robin found another note.

"This is regarding a servant here." She said after reading through. "And the one who hired him is a person called 'Alexander'." Zoro tilted one of his eyebrows a bit. 'Alexander'? He remembered now… that memory he had from this place's past… the darker, more noble voice…

"He's the one who runs this place." He said, and Robin and Chopper looked at him like they've seen a ghost. How could Zoro know this? They had not even found a single indication on that Alexander was the one who owned this place. They just thought that Alexander was a person Daniel had set out to kill by now, though the title **Alexander** **of Brennenburg** did give quite some hints on it. "Dunno how I know that, it just got there." He said, bonking his own head to put emphasis on the word 'there'. Just nodding, Robin read the contract;

_I hereby offer my full attention and services to Alexander, baron of Brennenburg. This contract will reign for a total of 3 years when my freedom shall return to me. In addition Alexander, baron of Brennenburg, is to recommend my services at the Prussian royal court and within the sanctum of the Order of the Black Eagle._

_May no man break this seal._

_Wilhelm, house of Gerich._

"Interesting… so he gave his full services to Alexander willingly? On most occasions, the other part is either forced into such a long contract, or being promised something in return for their troubles… but this document states no such transaction." Robin analyzed as she read it over and over.

"Wouldn't the recommendation of services at the royal court and that order-thingy be some kind of transaction?" Zoro inquired.

"Yes, some would say that, but it seems that, as far as I make of it, Alexander gave that proposition on his own accord, not by Wilhelm's terms." Robin replied as she folded the note and stuffed it into her pocket, along with Daniel's journal note about Africa. "Let's see if we can find more. This is getting rather interesting."

"Interestin', my ass…" Zoro groaned as he, despite his protest, followed Robin and Chopper as they went out to the hallway by a door to the right. In front of them was the 'Study' room, so they went inside, and found yet another table with a tinderbox in one of the drawers. Another note was also found. "Man, we keep findin' notes like this and we can re-assemble the whole frickin' diary…" the man chuckled slightly.

"Hush, Swordsman-San." Robin said politely as she read through it. "It's a continuation of Daniel's journal. Hear this;"

_17__th__ of May 1839_

_My hands tremble as I write. I feel a need to document my tribulation for I fear that my memory will fail me if I linger._

_Today I took some men and ventured into the dark ancient passage we uncovered. Our torches burned faintly in the murky air as we slowly made our way underground. The men were superstitious and fearful. They argued loudly and I felt their language getting to me. I mustered my strength and yelled at them to continue down the slopes and broken steps._

_The crudely carved passage confused me. It looked much older than the 4th century structure we had expected. The twisting path emerged into a great ante-chamber. The walls were lined with statues unlike any I'd ever seen. Despite their unearthly quality I felt a strange familiarity toward them, which haunts me still. At the far end of the chamber, a great slab of stone sealed of whatever lay ahead. I gave the order to raise it, as I pushed through the narrow space, the heavy stone suddenly dropped, sealing me inside._

_I was trapped!_

"He got trapped?" Chopper squeaked out as he almost dropped a tinderbox he had picked up, along with a bottle of oil he was going to give to Zoro. Actually, he did drop the oil bottle, but Zoro managed to catch it hastily. "W-What happened then!" he demanded, but Robin shook her head as she put the note in her pocket.

"Don't know, Chopper-San." She replied solemnly. "The journal page ended there. But I can't help to feel that there is more… we should keep looking!" Zoro just grunted at Robin's decision, but he followed anyway, since he didn't want to be left behind.

"I thought we were lookin' for an alchemy recipe, not some lost, stupid diary…" he mumbled under his breath as he moved on, but Chopper just gave him a slight glare.

"Zoro-San, stop being so pessimistic!" the little boy said with a slight hint of excitement. "This will be fun!" 'Fun' was the least thing Zoro thought this was; didn't Chopper or Robin notice that there was something _wrong_ with this place? The organic tissue material blocking both the exit and the refinery entrance… the voices from the past as well as all the roaring noises from below… did nothing of these things seem strange to his Nakama? In any case, there seemed to be no reasoning with them right now as he just had to follow them in search of more notes and such. As they reached the Local History room, however, Zoro pulled and pushed with all he had, yet it was locked.

"Well damn it, it's locked." Zoro sighed. "Looks like we have to find another way around." He told the other two as they nodded and went to the other room, labeled 'Floor Plans'. Inside were lots of old scripts, blueprints and instructions of how to fortify the castle walls, floors and interiors, along with a big map of the entire castle in the center of all the bookshelves. Zoro looked over the big blueprint, and suddenly, his mind was set ablaze again, as another flashback occurred.

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><p><em>"Much of the castle is old and hasn't been tended to for centuries. When the shadow arrives, it won't take long until things start falling apart." Alexander's voice was heard echoing in Zoro's head, and right now, he could even see the contours of two persons, yet they were wrapped in shadows. One was tracing his shaded finger over the blueprint, pointing out weak points and areas, while the other, slightly in length with Alexander, nodded a bit.<em>

_"We are just buying time anyway. Let's do what we can." Daniel's voice was heard, although this time more intrigued than worried during the last flashback._

_"There isn't much to be done about the wards. We should reinforce weak structures. The ground will tremble and there is a risk everything will cave in on us - especially downstairs." Alexander's voice was heard anew, and he began pointing on the map again. "Here...here...and there. Let's get the servants working on it." As soon as Alexander had pointed out the places needed to be reinforced, the foggy memories faded away, slowly, yet surely, they became dim._

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><p>"Zoro? Zoro! Zoro, are you ok?" Chopper's voice was heard echoing slightly as the swordsman felt himself being ruffled about and shaken by the little reindeer, as he slowly woke up. He grunted and held his head, seeing he was still in the room for floor plans, along with Chopper and Robin.<p>

"Ugh, I'm fine… I'm fine, ok?" he groaned as he stood up, dusting off his shirt a bit. "How about you and Robin?"

"We're fine, Swordsman-San." Robin replied to Zoro as she went past him. "But now, I think we should move on. We cannot linger here in case you have another breakdown." She and Chopper went ahead to check the final room, the 'Maps' room, to which Zoro rolled his eyes and just followed. He had a feeling something would go wrong… he just knew it.


	4. The Archives Part II

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

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><p>Chopper and Robin had become worried of Zoro's state; not once, but twice had he been seen holding his head in pain and staggering around, last time he was even <em>mumbling strange words<em>. Something about weak structures and even mentioning the name 'Alexander' again. Zoro, however, seemed to show no sign of knowing what he had said during his state of coma after his last flashback memory… he just wanted to solve this problem, and get out. Fast. As the trio moved up to the 'Maps' room, they passed through a big hall-like room, with a piano at the opposite wall from the room. Chopper went up to inspect it, but the moment he went up to it, the piano slammed shut, and the reindeer squeaked.

"It closed on its own!" he yelled as he rushed behind Zoro's leg, standing in his awkward hiding position with one half of his face hidden behind Zoro. "S-Scary!" Robin went up to inspect it herself, lifting the lid and pressing one of the buttons. It made a distinctive 'plink' noise. "W-Well?" Chopper asked again.

"There's nothing wrong with the piano." Robin stated. "It is a bit out of tone, though."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Chopper yelled out, but Robin only giggled slightly; she was amused whenever she teased someone like that. Zoro just eye-rolled at their little argument and went for the 'Maps' room. "Z-Zoro, wait!" the reindeer trotted after, his hoofed feet clicking behind Zoro, until suddenly, a big mass of rock and wood loosened itself from the roof, and collapsed right behind Zoro, as the reindeer was forced to move out, back to Robin, and saw the entrance being blocked in front of them. "Z-ZORO!"

"Swordsman-San! Are you alright?" Robin called out as she went up to the wall of rubble. "Can you hear me!" meanwhile, said green-haired man just grumbled as he rubbed his head; must've been a rock hitting him in the head while he fell inside. He soon stood up and heard his Nakama call on him, and he just grunted out a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine… well, this sucks." He stated as he looked at the rubble wall. "Chopper! Robin! Think you two can clear it?"

"I'm sorry Zoro, but for some reason I can't switch forms!" Chopper said as he looked at his small body. "My Devil Fruit is malfunctioning, I think!"

"Same for me." Robin added. "I can't use my Hana Hana no Mi powers. I am afraid you have to get out of there on your own." she added onto her statement, which only made Zoro more riled up, but not in a positive way; this castle was a living nightmare! It was like something was constantly trying to break it down upon them, and hinder their advances to succeed. Zoro was supposed to be the strong, most confident one of the group, but this place was literally breaking him. It was not safe here. How did they end up here in the first place? Would they get out of here alive? So many questions buzzed through his skull right now, but he had to focus.

"Just stay where you are!" he called out to them, which they thankfully heard. "I'm gonna try and find a way out of here! Maybe there's a way through that 'Local History' room! I'll see you guys later!" he then went into the room nearby, taking long strides as he ended up near a drawer. "Another tinderbox… I need another tinderbox!" he said as he left the ones he had with Chopper, and then pulled a drawer; praise be to God, there was one. He used it to light the candle on the table, the lights flickering a bit as he felt himself get a bit calmer. He crossed his hands over the back of his head as he leaned over the desk, clutching his head. What was going on with him? Was he… going insane?

* * *

><p>"Robin, are you sure Zoro will be ok?" Chopper asked once again as he and Robin were still trying to remove the rocks, but without any sign of success. Robin just nodded and kneeled down, petting Chopper's head.<p>

"I am sure of it, Doctor-San. Swordsman-San has his way of always getting the upper hand in these kinds of situations. I am sure he'll be fine…" just then, she turned her head to the entrance they had walked in from, her eyes narrowing as she heard the noise of feet dragging towards them. Sluggish, dragging foot-steps, sounding a bit saggy as well; something was coming!

"R-Robin?" Chopper said, but Robin only hushed harshly at him, picked him up, and hid behind the piano with him, covering up his muzzle. "M-Mmmpphhh!" the little boy muffled, but Robin sat where she was.

'Quiet, Doctor-San.' She whispered while peeking out from behind the piano's side. 'Someone's coming!' whether it was a servant, soldier or something… else, it was best to hide and inspect the situation before rushing onto things. The dragging footsteps were getting louder, and louder.

'_thud' 'thud' 'thud' 'thud' 'thud'_

It was getting closer and closer to the room they were in. They could hear it now, too; it let off gurgling, almost guttural sounds, as if something was choking on water. Occasional growls were heard as well.

'_**THUD' 'THUD' 'THUD'**_

It was at the door's frame! Robin decided to peek around the piano to see whatever it was. She wished she hadn't looked;

The sight in front of hers, and Chopper's eyes, was grotesque; a repulsive, humanoid being stood at the entrance to the hallway, its guttural groans, growls and gurgling being heard much clearer now. Stitches and open scar-like wounds covered its pasty and stained skin, which seemed to also functions as its clothing, as shown by the skirt-like protrusion around its waist. Its head, however, was the most disturbing feature; it was malformed, with a distended jaw that hung over its torso, stretched to an absurd length. There were clumps of hair still attached to its head, and its eyes were large, bulging and reptilian. It was also missing its fingers on the left hand, which were instead replaced by three crude blades.

'My… god…' Robin whispered in shock and dread of the malicious being that was at the doorway, scratching its clump-haired skull. 'What in earth's name… is that?' It seemed that the monster had not noticed them, since they had been so quiet. But it would not last long, as Chopper was almost dying just from the mere shock, wiggling and muffling squeaks into Robin's hands. Robin did her best to hold the reindeer's muzzle tight enough to not let the abdominal being hear them, but not too hard so she might've choked him. 'Shh… stay quiet for just a little more…' she demanded while hissing her voice down to an inaudible level. However, when she noticed the creature tilt its head towards them, those bulging, misshaped eyes glaring straight at them, she gasped quickly and ducked behind the piano again, praying for sweet mercy it had not seen them. Luckily, it hadn't; it aimed its sluggish, thudding steps to their direction at first, a moment where Robin could feel her fear of death literally _grip onto her_ and force her into a bottomless pit of darkness… but then there was sweet relief as she heard them move away, into one of the corridors. But wait… wasn't that the corridor where…

"Where the 'Local History' room is?" she said quietly to herself, but slightly louder than a whisper. "Zoro is in trouble!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Zoro was still contemplating on his situation in this place, and whether he was going to lose his mind, or his life first. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared to death. He was starting to break out a cold sweat, big drips falling down on the wooden table of the desk in front of him as his breathing was irregular and panting. He groaned a bit before looking to his right; a note was placed there. "Huh? Another note? Damn it and Robin's not here!" he groaned, but decided to pick it up for later. But just as he touched the note, he groaned loudly, feeling his mind blank out and his stature failing as he tried to grasp onto something, but his hands were weak, his muscles numb… were not responding as his brain shortened out while he fell to the floor. Meanwhile, the entry of the journal note rang in his ears, as he drifted into unconsciousness.<p>

* * *

><p>'<em>17<em>_th__ of May 1839… After pounding the unforgiving stone wall for what seemed like an eternity, I realized it was hopeless. I was trapped. I fell to the ground gasping for air, trying to focus. That's when I saw a faint blue shimmer…' Zoro could feel his body react in the same way as the non-existing author's voice echoed in his mind; he was gasping for air, feeling like he was choking on his own breath while he tried to regain focus of where he was. He looked up, and saw nothing but darkness around him, and the stone floor underneath his feet. He pushed himself up slightly, but felt his body was heavy, and weak. He was slowly going numb, it seemed, and what made matters worse was that he did not know where to go. But just as he was about to try and look around, he saw a faint, blue glimmer of a light at the end of a winding stone path. He did not know what it was, but he knew the only way out was to follow it. He did so, as he wandered forward, feeling his body fail on him, but he didn't give up._

'_My weakened body was heavy to carry, but I managed to push myself towards the enchanting light. It was waiting for me. Enclosed in dark nothingness I felt drawn to the mystic light.' Zoro could feel his want and desire to enclose the light in his hands… make it his own. To shine up this dark, god-forsaken place, and find himself a way to get the hell out of it all. He did not want to stay here. Not for another second, he wanted to stay here. He just wanted to go away from it all. As he finally got up to the shining object, he noticed it was an orb, sitting on a pedestal that held it in place. He began to reach his hand out to it, to grab it…_

'_I reached out closing it in my hands.' Zoro closed his hands around the orb, and very simply and easy, he yanked it out of his holding place. He gave the spherical object a questioning look, before he decided it was safe to use it to light this place up. He held it up in front of himself, hoping it would shine bright enough to reveal a passageway out of here. It began glowing alright, but suddenly, Zoro felt his body wrack in pain as he was seemingly warped through time and space, and his mind lit up with several pictures._

'_The faint glow escaped my fingers and began to spark brightly and spirit me away. Unlocking alien memories of spiraling towers, endless deserts, and impossible geometry.' The images shifted into massive, spiraling and thin towers, the same sort of towers the castle had, probably. And the endless deserts in his mind began to fill with said impossible geometry, blocks and squares shaping form and size ever so often and rapidly, until he felt his entire mind black out and be replaced by a bright light. Next thing he knew, he could feel himself return to consciousness, along with sort of being pulled up by someone._

'_The next thing I can remember is the grating sound of stone being lifted. The voices of the Arabs pulling me to safety. And grasped firmly in my hands were the broken pieces of a most peculiar relic.'_

* * *

><p>As Zoro came to it, he found himself sitting on the same chair, next to the desk, where he had been sitting before passing out. The note, however, was nowhere to be found. "Alright that's it, I'm getting the fuck out of here!" he said as he stood up and strode out of the room, only to remember the cave-in from earlier. "DAMN IT! How am I gonna get out of here now…" he noticed a crack in one of the walls, with light shedding into the room. He went up to it and tapped on it, seeing it grate slowly under his touch. He clutched his hand into a fist and rammed it straight through; the fragile stone breaking under his strength as a path collapsed in front of him. It probably lead to the 'Local History' room, so he had no other thing to do than to pass through. As he went in, the voices of Alexander and Daniel once more echoed in his mind. "Oh for crying out loud, not again!"<p>

* * *

><p><em>"You have to be swift - when you activate the first one..." The voice of Alexander was heard, along with something being pulled out. A lever? No, it was a book, secretly being part of a mechanism, as Zoro soon saw it. The book slowly went back into place, though, as a ticking noise was heard, and then it stopped. "You hear that? If it stops, you'll have to start over."<em>

_"Isn't all this a bit excessive?" Daniel's voice was heard, questioning the elder man._

"_You can never be too careful, Daniel." The baron said, before time faded back to normal._

* * *

><p>"Damn I'm getting sick of these…" Zoro groaned and rubbed his temples, before he looked up. The bookshelves in front of him had a lot of books, but for some reason… he <em>knew<em> which ones to pull. He went around, and then pulled out one book. A ticking noise was beginning to be heard, and he swiftly went and pulled out two more books, and a loud, scraping noise was heard as a bookshelf near an otherwise empty wall was pushed aside, revealing the entrance to a room with a desk. Zoro instantly went inside and picked up a tinderbox, along with a note he'd save for Robin to read. Then he found a key. "Hm?" he picked it up, and even if he was not a good reader with notes, he could tell the label on it said 'Wine Cellar'. "The wine cellar key…" he grumbled, before he heard a loud smash, as if someone was breaking apart wood. He spun around and rushed to the sound's source, seeing that the previous locked entrance to the history room was open. But no one was there. Shrugging, he went out of the room, and looked around. He went back to the big hall, only to see Chopper and Robin huddle behind the piano. He raised his hand and was about to yell at them, until Robin noticed him and gave him a 'hush' expression, her index finger raised to her lips. Zoro became confused, but then heard a guttural groan, and tilted his head out of the door frame. He instantly looked away though, as he merely saw the figure of the hideous monster that had come inside, only to see it move out of the room. When it was no longer heard, Robin sighed in relief and released Chopper, who instantly began bawling loudly and rushed up to Zoro, who knelt down and embraced him in a hug.

"Z-ZOOOOOOOOOOORO!" the little boy whined. "I-IT WAS SO SCARY! I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE…" the swordsman softly hushed at the reindeer and pet his back, hearing him calm down to a couple of sniffles.

"Robin…" he said, with a voice filled with dread. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know..." Robin said, equally filled with mortal dread as she stared at where the monster had once entered, and now had left them. "But I know one thing for sure… we are _**not**_ alone here…"


	5. The Laboratory

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

* * *

><p>As Chopper had calmed down, and Zoro had explained the vision he had about the Orb for Robin, the woman began to think hard on what the Orb could be for some sort of rare artifact. Meanwhile, Zoro also brought up the note he had found in the room he had found the wine cellar key, and given the note to Robin to read as well.<p>

"Well, I can't figure out what this Orb of yours could be, Zoro-San, but after reading this note, it seems that this baron… might not be as kind as we thought." She said, and read aloud;

_Wilhelm and his fools have endangered my research long enough with their absentminded handling of the human vessels. The sheriff is keeping a watchful eye on the forest and is killing my trusty servants. It's just a matter of time until they follow the trail to Brennenburg. I need to lock Wilhelm and his men up to avoid further investigation from the public. The wine cellar will therefore be sealed off until the matter has been handled. Either the king's men leave or they will starve. Whatever comes first - they can rot for all I care._

_Maybe I will feed them some wine; it would in a sense solve both of my problems._

"What? He locked up his own men!" Chopper exclaimed. "I-I thought Wilhelm had signed over his services to Alexander! Why would he lock them up and let them starve?" Robin got a wary eye on the reindeer, and stuffed the note into her pocket.

"Maybe Alexander didn't see his servants fitting of the work any longer, and decided to… 'Take care' of them." She said simply, which made Chopper even more frightened. He clutched onto Zoro's leg, and the swordsman was in much more need of comfort than the reindeer, so he let him stay there. This castle was breaking down his mind, and Robin – by the looks of it – thought he was going _insane_. They had to find a way out, and fast. After giving Robin the wine cellar key, they decided that was the best place to look next to see in case they would find some more clues about what to do, and hopefully how to dissolve the red organic mass covering the refinery door. As they exited the archives however, wandering through the hallways, a loud, muffled whimper was heard, followed by the groan-like snarl of the monster they had seen earlier. All of them instantly froze, looking around each corner and around them. Chopper, however, was the first to lose his cool.

"I-I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!" he yelled as he dashed for the door, Zoro hot on his heels to stop him from rushing ahead.

"O-Oi! Chopper, wait!" he shouted, and as they rushed out of the archives, the underground roaring was heard once again, and the castle shook around them. As they looked up, they saw more of the horrid, red organic tissue forming in front of them, some of it forming bubbles and lumps filled with what seemed to be human bones and skulls.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Chopper yelled as he tried not to touch the organic goo, and Zoro lifted him up before he tripped into it and possibly hurt himself. "S-SCARY! It just appeared out of nowhere!" he whimpered and curled up in the swordsman's arms, who responded with a soft kiss on his nose and hugged him to make him cool down. Robin went up to the edge of it and kneeled down to it, examining it.

"This… organic matter. Is it following us?" she said out loud, making Chopper scream and hook himself onto Zoro's head, thinking it was following them.

"Oi, Robin, stop scarin' up Chopper!" he complained as he began to pry the reindeer off his head, and returned him to his place in his arms. "Seriously, he's even more spooked now than I am. Now, how do we cross it?" he noticed there was a small gap in the tissue-like mass in front of them. "Jump?" he questioned.

"Seems like the only way." Said Robin as she backed a few steps, then took a sprint and leaped, landing in the 'safe zone' in the middle of all the tissue. She was unharmed. "It seems to be ok! I'll leap ahead, and you two go to where I am now!" Zoro nodded as he prepared to jump as well.

"Hang on tight, lil' guy." He said as he clutched Chopper closer to himself, and while Robin leaped over to the doorway leading to the entrance hall, Zoro leaped over to where she had stood, Chopper whimpering in his arms as he did so. He took another leap, and was soon next to Robin. "Well… at least it can't stretch out and grab us." He said calmly, but also sarcastically.

"Yeah… we should be lucky with that fact." Robin sighed in relief, panting as she could feel her heart beating rapidly. "But for now, I think we should go to the laboratory. Maybe we can find out more what to do there." Zoro nodded as he carried Chopper still, and they went down to the laboratory.

* * *

><p>Once being there, and going down the winding hallways, they ended up near a room that was well-lit. It had a bookshelf near one wall, a chemistry table with four different bottles and a tap, an iron-barred grate at the floor with water below, along with a desk behind the wall leading to the stairs into the room. As they all looked around the room, Chopper tilted his head a bit to look down the grate. A loud, splashing noise was heard, along with a muffled grumble, and he squeaked and rushed over to the chemist table. He managed to get up on a chair nearby, and looked over it.<p>

"Hmmm…" he began wondering what it could be used for, and what they could make of it, but just then, he felt himself getting light-headed for a while, holding his head as he felt himself getting woozier by the second. "U-Ugh… my head…" he said, before something flashed past his eyes, and the whole world turned damper… less clear.

* * *

><p><em>As Chopper regained his sight, everything around him was darker, and more damn than earlier. He was still in the laboratory, but it all seemed much different; the stones were not mold-covered, and they were in much finer condition than he had first seen them. Zoro and Robin were nowhere to be seen, however, and he was panicked a bit. But the voice of a man suddenly disturbed him, and he saw someone standing at the table, mixing a few compounds together.<em>

"_Hmmm… There should be more Cuprite." The man said and mixed the content of a bottle into a pot in front of him, stirring it together as he waited for a reaction. Chopper gasped a bit, thinking the man knew he was there, but then realized he wasn't even looking his way for one second. The reindeer waved his hoof at him a bit._

"_U-Um… hello? Can you hear me?" he called out, but the man simply kept mixing whatever he was doing._

"_Let me see, let me see…" he then said, as he took up a bigger bottle, looking it up. "And one part Aqua Fortis…" suddenly, everything became clearer again, and the reindeer found himself back in reality._

* * *

><p>"Chopper? Oi, Chopper! You ok?" he heard Zoro's voice ask, and he spun his head to find Zoro standing beside him, along with Robin. "Lil' guy, you scared me up! An' that is a rarity!"<p>

"U-Uuh?" he asked groggily, holding his head. "W-Wha-… what do you mean?"

"You passed out, Doctor-San." Robin explained for the reindeer boy. "And we thought you had hit your head or something. Are you alright?" Chopper's eyes widened a bit, before he stared at his hooves a bit; that was the same thing happening to Zoro! Was he going insane like the swordsman was? Would his mind too be consumed in this place? He dared not think about it, and decided to just move on with it all. He simply nodded slowly.

"Y-Yeah, I am fine Robin…" he assured the raven-haired woman, who nodded back at him, and he turned to the chemistry table. "But, if I think correctly, I believe these devices will allow us to create something! Something we could use to melt down that organic material covering the refinery door!"

"Like… an acid?" Zoro asked, and Chopper nodded rapidly.

"Indeed!" he agreed. Although by now, Zoro had raised an eyebrow at Chopper; how could he know what they needed to do just like that? And after passing out, as well? Chopper got nervous at the green-haired man's reaction to him, and decided to quickly find something that could support his sudden theory. He then found two notes nearby and grabbed at them. "H-Here! I found these! They should explain how we could do it!" he explained, and began to read one of them;

_This is my third attempt to produce artificial vitae. The former compounds lacked the potency I need, but I sense I'm close. Calamine and Orpiment are a given and the Cuprite binds them well. This time I will attempt Aqua Regia instead of Aqua Fortis in hope it will produce a more even solution._

_The experiment was unsuccessful. The solution is highly acid and proves impractical to put to any use except as a detergent. Organic tissue reacts especially violently to the solution and should be handled with the greatest care. I might be able to use the recipe, but I'm losing hope that I will find an alchemic solution to my predicament._

"Artificial… vitae?" Robin asked quietly, and Zoro turned his head to her.

"Y'know what it is?" he inquired, but Robin shook her head.

"No, I've never heard of such thing. Because… it would be impossible to create." She explained. "'Vitae' is Latin for 'Life'. So in basics…"

"… He tried creating artificial life?" Chopper filled in, to which Robin nodded. "B-But that's impossible! The only way to possibly reanimate someone – and that's only when he's close to dying – is through electric pulses that stimulate the nerves and blood circulation! There's no way to create life through alchemy!"

"May be so." Robin followed up. "But judging from his rather furious endeavor to constantly try, it seemed the thought never hit him."

"So he was a dumbass, in other words." Zoro chuckled darkly, and snatched up the other note with a bit of protests from Chopper. "Robin, here's another. Can't read that well, but it did say something 'bout those chemicals." Robin nodded and read;

_The lack of a chimney to properly vent the fumes from my most recent experiments has taken its toll on many of my less stable ingredients in storage. Some seem unaffected, but many are stained by the fumes and will be difficult to salvage. I shall do what I can and move them to the wine cellar._

"So now we need to look in the wine cellar for the ingredients. Lovely… things just keep getting better an' better for each second…" the swordsman groaned, and just then, the loud roar was heard again from the underground, and Chopper screamed in terror and hooked himself onto Robin's waist, nuzzling her clothes and whining a bit.

"I-I AM NOT GOING OUT THERE!" he whimpered. "I-I am staying here even if I have to glue myself here!" Robin sighed a bit, but smiled and picked him up, holding him close and sitting down near the chemistry table.

"Looks like Doctor-San's too strained for more adventures." She said with a soothing tone, before looking at Zoro. "Would you mind going to the wine cellar without us, Zoro-San?" she asked with that faint smile of hers. Zoro grimaced a bit before sighing, taking the wine cellar key from Robin as she handed it to him.

"Fine, I guess I'll go." He said as he went up the stairs again, and through the door back to the main hall. He was sick and tired of this place. All he wanted now was to go home to his world, back to his hammock in the boys' cabin and earn himself a good, long and healthy rest. He had earned it, he thought, but no; he had to walk through this scary-ass castle and its wine cellar to find ingredients for some sort of acid now. Groaning, he went down to the wine cellar door, unlocked it and went inside. What was the worst that could happen by now?


	6. The Wine Cellar

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

* * *

><p>Zoro groaned as he went down to the wine cellar door, and opened the door with the key. "Pfft, stupid Chopper bein' so scared… eh, I can't blame him though. He's just a kid after all. Though I wish Robin would stop pamperin' him all the time…" he rolled his eyes as he went into the cellar, looking around as he saw nothing of special interest. "Heh… pretty empty." He told himself as he walked down the wooden staircase down to the floor of the cellar, the planks creaking ever so slightly as he stepped down them. He looked around himself again, just for safety measures. Nothing there. He went up to one of the doors and opened it up, seeing a big, room with several wine stacks, though most of the bottles were broken and empty. He stepped inside, but his head began throbbing anew as another flashback shot through his mind;<p>

* * *

><p><em>The sound of clinking glasses were heard, and someone pouring wine to himself and drinking it up. There were two voices mumbling to each other, laughing occasionally after a glass of wine.<em>

"_Where did the baron go?" one of the voices asked as the other poured another glass._

"_Who cares? He left us enough wine to last us a lifetime." the other voice said and gulped down more wine. "Or at least until tomorrow!" he then added with a hearty laughter, which snapped Zoro out of the flashback._

* * *

><p>"What… the hell…" Zoro groaned as he stood up on his feet, seeing he had fallen down on the ground, and rubbed his head. He began to grow weary of these flashbacks, as it felt someone was actually trying to sabotage for him. But, how does someone sabotage your progress with mental flashbacks and mind tricks? He shrugged it off, and just went inside. "Damn these mental voices… I'm not made for this.." he grunted, looking around the room as he found a dusty note. Having been given the lantern by Robin before he left, he lit it up and looked around himself, checking his surroundings, before he picked up the note, skimming it over quickly with his eyes;<p>

_22__nd__ of June, 1839_

_It's been more than a month since my last entry. After the event inside the underground chamber in Algeria, Professor Herbert insisted I return to England. He said he didn't want to risk forfeiting the entire expedition lest I took a turn for the worse. An excessive decision in retrospect, but I'm glad it turned out that way._

_I found my journal this morning in the haphazard collection of things brought home from Africa. Next to it laid the broken stone orb wrapped in cloth. I tried to assemble it, but I couldn't. The pieces wouldn't fit together, as if they weren't from the same object. Could I have imagined it all? Was there ever a complete orb?_

He saw there was a second page to it, so he flipped to it quickly and skimmed it over as well;

_25th of June, 1839_

_I feel the need to continue this journal, even though it was intended for my journey in Africa. This must be something very important, I just know it. I've taken it upon myself to piece the orb back together, but it's been more difficult than one might think. The pieces are behaving strangely. They seem to change color, shape and texture, but ever so slightly._

_Yesterday I took careful measurements and notated any significant markings. Today, I confirmed my suspicions. They **were** changing. I was terrified and rushed off to see the finest geologist in London, Sir William Smith. I approached the subject with care, and we discussed how rocks change form. He told me about the nature of glass, how it eventually collapses on itself, like ice slowly melting over the course of centuries._

_Smith eased my mind a bit, but I can't escape the feeling that these shards have otherworldly properties._

Dammit, why did the year '1839' keep popping up on every single note? Had it all happened in just one year's circle? Even if it spanned on for so many days with long intervals, it was so unnatural that all these events, and possibly even more, could have happened in just one year. At least for one person. Zoro just shrugged a bit and stuffed the note into his pocket, before he kept looking around the place. Going into another room, he found a bottle with something in it. Giving it a shake, it gave off a slight splashy sound, and he managed to at least read the label of it; "'Calamite'… I guess this was what Chopper neede-!" he was cut off as the room began shaking, and the roof above him started caving in. "Shit! I need to get out of here!" he said as he held onto the Calamite, and only managed to see the debris falling right in front of the door, before a wooden barrel hit him in the head and he fell down, unconscious.

* * *

><p>A couple of minutes later, Zoro began coming to, and he groaned while rubbing his head, feeling dust and gravel being ruffled out of his green hair, now slightly grey while coated in dust. He then sighed a bit, looking around himself as he found the room he was in being intact, except some big rocks and wooden beams having collapsed in front of the door he had walked through. Groaning, he just winded up his arms a bit, and went to grab one of them. His arm muscles flexing and bulging, he groaned as he pulled at the beam with all his might, pulling and straining to get it away from the door. After some long efforts, he managed to pull it out of the way, and tossing it aside, not waiting to recover as he grabbed the other one, and pulled anew. He was groaning and sweating heavily as he tossed the second one aside, being much easier to remove than the first one, and then he went to drag away the big rocks in front of the door. This was nothing, he thought. He had lifted weights heavier than this, so it was no problem, and in a matter of minutes, the rubble was out of the way.<p>

"Dammit, things just keep popping up, don't they?" he groaned to himself as he went out of the room, checking his pockets; Yep, the Calamite was still there, and the bottle was not broken. Huh, such a sturdy bottle… "Chopper said there were four of these needed, right? Right. I'll best look for the other three." He said to himself as he moved on to the next door, but just as he reached for it, a loud ***BANG*** was heard coming from the other side, along with pleading screams of mercy and pain. Two more hits to the door, ***BANG, BANG***, were heard, before the sounds died off completely, leaving Zoro with the ghost-like silence again. "H-Holy fuck…" Zoro gasped, for once feeling _fear_ crawl up his spine. His heart was beating away inside his chest, almost bulging out of his ribcage, and his hands and arms were shaking, along with his eyes being wide open. His breathing had turned irregular, almost to a kind of painful panting noise, almost struggling to even breathe. It was a feeling… unlike anything he had ever felt. It was thrilling, indeed… but in the same time, dreadful. _Terrifying_, even. He did never want to feel it again, but as he walked up to the door again, nothing happened. Could it have been he just imagined it all? No, he heard it loud and clear! But how in hell… he walked inside, only to step into something squishy and fungi-like. He looked down, and almost vomited at what he saw; blood puddles and piles of squishy, slime entrails and organs, having decomposed over time and turning into red, soggy piles. _'What the hell happened in this room!'_ Zoro gasped while thinking, and walked inside the room, seeing a table with one chair next to it, and as he walked up to it, his head throbbed, and he felt another flashback hit him.

* * *

><p><em>The room was darker now, and the organic piles were seemingly washed away. But he began hearing sounds of something that sounded like rubber being pulled and stretched, and something spilling out on the floor along with glasses clinking onto it and bottles breaking.<em>

"_W-What's happening…" he then heard a voice groan. It was one of the voices from earlier. "O-Oh! It feels like my chest is going… t-to burst!" he groaned and knocked some bottles onto the floor, breaking them as they shattered onto the floor._

"_My god, Wilhelm, do something!" the other voice from before was heard, pleading as he was going through the same torture as the other, who was no one other than Wilhelm, the man who's letter of servitude to Alexander they had found. This was his fate. This was what Alexander meant when he wrote about 'feeding them wine'. It was tainted!_

"_N-Ngh… accept it." Wilhelm finally said, stopping his struggle and just falling down onto the chair, letting whatever mutation in his body take over. "We're not getting out of here alive." His companion seemed to grow restless and panicked at this, pleading at him and bashing at the door, which was obviously locked, screaming to be let out._

"_H-How can you say that?" he demanded, before banging the door again. "Alexander you piece of shit! Let us out of here…" he got into a fit of coughing and hacking, spewing up something as he fell to the floor, growing silent after that as Zoro's vision returned to normal._

* * *

><p>"So… that's what happened with that 'Wilhelm'…" Zoro told himself as he woke up again, this time supporting himself to the table so he did not fall into any of the piles of organic goo. He sighed and picked up a bottle on the table, this one titled 'Aqua Regia', as he smirked a bit to himself. "Two down, two to go." He said in slight triumph, and noticed another note on the table. "Awfully lot of notes…" he told himself as he picked it up and skimmed it over, like the last one.<p>

_My name is Wilhelm, house of Gerich. These are my final words, my confession and testament. Two years ago I was summoned to the castle Brennenburg. As most of the aristocracy, I was curious about what this supposed knight of the Order could want from me and accepted the invitation. The baron was friendly and offered me a proposition._

_It dawned on me that the nature of the contract was sordid and that the reason I was chosen was because of the follies of my past and not the honors I've been rewarded with during my time as a soldier. I was to kidnap healthy humans upon his slightest whim and do so without asking questions. In return he would attest to my character at the royal court, advancing my position within noble society. I would like to claim that I struggled with my decision, but it came swiftly and I accepted wholeheartedly._

_Ever since that day I've brought men, women, and children to Brennenburg. I can't remember the numbers, but there were many, perhaps even a hundred. None of whom were ever seen or heard from again._

_Tonight the baron invited me and my men down to the wine cellar to celebrate our work. I had my suspicions as we descended the stairs, but he insisted and joined us in a toast. The wine tasted fine and my men drank without restraint._

_So begins the punishment for our sins. The baron has locked us up and returned upstairs. Forgive me for what I have done. I was weak and fell into his diabolic ways. My men are screaming, their skin has been pierced by their own tangled bones. I feel my insides revolt against their God given nature. Blood has begun to pour from my eyes and I can no longer..._

Zoro suspected that Wilhelm had died before he could finish the note, not that he could read what was on it. But he had a strong feeling it was because of that, since it had ended so abruptly. He went on as he went out of the room, lifting up the lantern and brightening the place up a bit. In another of the rooms, he found the 'Cuprite' ingredient, and after the door mysteriously closed behind him the moment he picked it up, and sent him into another, temporary fright mode, he went into the final pair of doors he had not searched through earlier. It was dark and thick in the room he was in, the air sort of _smothering_ him as he was inside. A few windows gave little light to the room, so he put down his lantern for the time being. After looking over at a shelf, he found a bottle of Laudanum, which he quickly picked up. "Huh… a lot of the-!" he was cut as a loud, groaning noise was heard… _and it was straight behind him_.

Zoro dared not look back, as if he thought the monsters of Hell itself would spring out and attack him if he did. But he did glance once, and it was enough to send chills down his spine. A shaded figure stood right behind him, thankfully looking in the opposite direction, but Zoro knew what that figure was; it was the monster they had seen in the Archives. Was it _following_ him? No, it could not be… could it? Zoro gasped silently, and hid behind the shelves as he tried his best to shield his eyes from the shade, but the more he looked at it, he felt, the more his sane mind was draining away, replaced by horrid pictures and insanely wicked, warped voices. _'G-Go away! Go the fuck away!'_ Zoro mentally screamed as he restrained himself from bashing his own head in, but the moment he looked away from the monster… all the voices and pictures vanished. As if they had not been there at all. He looked back again. Nothing was there anymore. The beast must have wandered off, somehow. Taking a deep sigh of relaxation, and to get his breathing back, he stood up again and walked off. "That was fucking close…" he told himself as he looked around, and finally found the last ingredient in one of the wine bottle shelves; 'Orpiment'. "Finally… now I can get the hell out of here." He said as he quickly made his way for the exit. He only hoped Chopper would know how to use those chemicals…


	7. I Think This Was A Mistake

**DISCLAIMERS:**

**One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and Fuji TV**

**Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the property of Frictional Games**

**I do not own One Piece or Amnesia, nor any of its characters, concepts and/or content**

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><p>Zoro groaned as he finally managed to get out of the cellar door, his breath panting and heavy and his knees almost buckling underneath him from the horrid experience he had felt back down there. It was horrible, staring at that monster seemed to drain his sanity away and leave him as an empty husk once it was gone. "Alright, no matter how many puppy-dog eyes that little brat makes after this… I… am NOT… doing shit for him again!" he growled, not exactly mad at Chopper; he could never be mad at him. He was just mad because he had to face that horrible monster alone. Just then, the underground roar from before bellowed, and the walls, ceiling, even the stairs he walked on were covered in the red organic tissue from before, and he stood right in it.<p>

"Shit! I gotta get movi-GAAAAAAAHH!" Zoro cried out in pain as he felt a massive gash appear on his right leg from seemingly nothing, and he, out of reflex, began rushing upstairs, not getting any more wounds, but feeling severely injured. He looked down at his right leg, as there was a huge cut wound on it, bleeding heavily. "Shit… shit shit SHIT!" he growled, taking off his bandanna from his arm and tying it tightly around the top of the wound, stopping further bleeding from the wound as he growled and marched towards the laboratory door, and went inside. After a few more moments of painful walking, he was back in the small lab area, where Robin was busy reading through some of the alchemy books, and Chopper was just trying to figure out how to use the equipment.

"Hey, Robin! I think I figured out how to use the-!" he gasped, turning as he saw Zoro, and both out of joy and worry he leaped at him, hugging his white-shirted chest tightly. "ZOOOOOOOOOOOROOOOOOO! I was so worried! I thought you had died! And what's that gash on your leg!" the child babbled incoherently as his eyes were watered with tears of joy, and Zoro just groaned and petted his head.

"Nothing's wrong, Chopper. I'm fine." He said to not worry the doctor, and a small giggle was heard from Robin. "Eh? What you laughin' at, Robin?" the swordsman groaned.

"Nothing, Swordsman-san." Robin answered simply, albeit with a big smile. "It's just so cute seeing you and Doctor-san bond with each other." Zoro sneered slightly at the archaeologist's remark, but decided not to berate it as he dug through his pockets and picked out the four chemicals.

"E-Excellent!" Chopper said with a slight thrill in his tone as he hopped up on the stool in front of the mixing table. "These are just what we need! Now, all we need to do is pour the chemicals into these four glass bottles…" he pointed to them, each having a burner underneath and a pipe leading to a ending pipe at the right end, having the form of a nozzle. "And the heat from the burners will make them rise and mix together as they travel towards the nozzle. Then we'll use this…" he pulled up a ceramic urn onto the table, and pushed it under the nozzle. "To safely hold the chemicals."

"SO, we're making an acid, right?" Zoro reassured himself, and Chopper nodded idly. "Right. Well let's get to it. I met another of those freaks in the wine cellar…" he murmured, but Chopper heard it and gasped.

"Aaah! Z-Zoro, I'm sorry for sending you there! You shouldn't have met it alone!" he said, but Zoro just frowned at him meaning there was no time for it, and the child just nodded. "R-Right, I'll get to it…" he said and began to pour the chemicals into the glass bottles. Robin on the other hand, frowned back at Zoro as she had heard he encountered the monster alone.

"Swordsman-san, with all due respect… but that… _thing_ isn't something you just brush off." She told him off. "I faced it too, and it was horrible. It felt even colder than the time I was frozen alive by Aokiji… and it was like being dragged down into a bottomless pit. I do not know what it is… but it's an unnatural being, almost projecting fear out of itself."

"Yeah, whatever, I faced uglier things… like the face of Ero-Cook." He smugly replied with a grin, but only received a slap on the face from Robin, but since she could not use her Hana Hana no Mi powers, it was just a regular slap. "Ow! What the hell?" he growled.

"It's not a joking matter." Robin said simply, as when Chopper poured up the third chemical, a loud crashing was heard upstairs from the lab, and he squeaked in fear, almost dropping the fourth and final chemical.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! Earthquake!" he shouted with a shrill tone, and lodged himself onto Zoro's leg, to which he groaned. "I-I don't wanna do this anymore!" he whimpered.

"Well neither do I Chopper, but we gotta keep going." Zoro told him and pulled him off, giving his nose a brief kiss. "C'mon now Chopper… don't fail on us. I know you can do it." He told him, not caring if Robin was near. He had to calm Chopper down, and what better way than to just do what he usually did? It gave profit, however, as the reindeer relaxed a lot, and nodded as when Zoro put him down, he trotted back to the table as he went up on the stool and poured in the fourth chemical.

"A-Alright, it's done now…" Chopper said. "Now we just need to turn this valve…" he pointed to a valve near the four burners. Zoro nodded as he easily span it around, and the chemicals began fizzling and bubbling the moment the burners were turned on. All four of them began pouring upwards from lack of any other way to go, and through the pipe as it went towards the nozzle, and as it poured into the jar it was slightly green-glowing. "T-There! It's done, now we have acid!" he saw Zoro about to dip his finger in it and slapped his hand away. "DON'T DIP YOUR FINGER IN IT, YOU MORON!"

"I was just gonna check you hadn't screwed up…" Zoro said innocently, obviously wanting to cheer up this situation in his own way, but apparently failing. Robin cut in at this point.

"Now that we have what we need, should we move onward?" she suggested, and the other two nodded as Zoro picked up the jar of acid, and they moved upstairs. But to their shock, the cave-in had caused the wooden stairs up to the main entrance to collapse.

"Aah! Now we're trapped in here!" the reindeer squeaked, and Zoro just sighed as he looked over their opportunities of getting out. He soon saw some wooden planks all spiked together to form some kind of fence or something. He went over and picked one up, showing it to the others.

"Here. Will this do?" he asked. Robin was a bit confused at first, but then understood.

"Of course. You're gonna use that as a means of elevation to climb up there…" she said, nodding up to a hole in the fence of the wooden platform above them. "Right, Swordsman-san?" Zoro just nodded as he walked past her and Chopper, and then placed the plank onto the wooden beam, which supported the planks as he climbed up onto them, and up on the platform again.

"Now c'mon, we don't got all day." He told Robin and Chopper, who followed him suit. After getting to the main entrance again, they all looked back down at the refinery door.

"… Do we actually dare to venture further?" Robin asked the others. "After having witnessed what is to come here… do we really dare?" this question, while unknown to them, would prove to be the greatest one to answer during this entire trip. Chopper whimpered a bit, but he knew that there would be no other way than down, anyway. The exit was blocked by that organic mass, and he was sure not even the acid would burn off all of it. As for Zoro, he only wanted to get this all over with as quick as possible, so it was no real 'choice' for him.

"I'd say we just get it over with." Zoro told his friends as they both looked at him with shock. "Well, look; we can't really go anywhere else but down, am I right? So why not just get it over with?" Robin looked down at Chopper, and he looked back up at her, before they both nodded and then ventured down, along with Zoro. As they opened the refinery door, the organic net of tissue was still in front of them, but with a quick splash of acid, it all dissolved in a manner of seconds. "Huh… pretty tough shit, this…" he said, as he and the other two ventured into the refinery.

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><p>The refinery was dark. Really dark. Even if Zoro took up the lantern and lit it in front of them, there was still a pitch-black darkness in front of them, and no one could see through it. Not even Chopper, being an animal with slightly better eye-sight. They all ventured carefully, but they could make out the shapes of underground walls, support beams and torches in the ceiling, which Robin lit one after the other with tinderboxes as they passed. Chopper was clattering teeth while he walked, biting on the tip of his hooves as he was scared out of his wits, but Zoro merely remained calm and kept looking onward through the lantern's glow. Just then, another burning sensation scorched his mind, and he felt another vision of the past haunt his mind. This time, however, he didn't fall down, and just kept walking.<p>

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><p>"<em>It sure is dark in here…." Daniel's voice was heard as he and presumably Alexander traversed the vast corridors of the refinery.<em>

"_Yes, and there is a good reason for it." Alexander was heard replying. "But you can light the lamp now, if you wish." He heard Daniel doing as requested, and lit his lantern as they kept walking onwards, following the corridors._

"_What's the reason? For the darkness, that is." Daniel then suddenly asked, but Alexander remained unfazed as his footsteps were heard to never falter._

"_Stay close – Be careful not to stray." Was his only answer. Not settling with it, Daniel repeated;_

"_What's the reason? Why is it so dark?"_

"_Pay attention, Daniel. It's important that you keep going straight… and make sure not to stray." The baron once more ignored Daniel's question, and just kept walking as Daniel, presumably giving up on the subject, sighed as he kept following in Alexander's footsteps._

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><p>"We should keep going straight, guys." Zoro told Chopper and Robin all of a sudden. Robin was caught off-guard by this, and looked at him as if she had seen a stranger.<p>

"Zoro… what did you-" realizing he had said it out loud, Zoro decided to cover it up somehow.

"Nothing, damn it…" he muttered, and kept walking onward, the corridor finally ending up in an entrance to what seemed to be a storage area for big vats. "There… let's see what we can f-!" just then, a growl was heard, the same, guttural groan from before, and a shadow was seen skulking around in front of them. It was limping, and Robin knew instantly what it was, gasping as her eyes were wide, and she hid behind one of the walls near the entrance. Before Chopper could scream, Zoro grabbed him by his muzzle, not too tight, but enough so he'd not scream, and ducked behind a vat, the monster not seeing them as it merely passed by them, disappearing into the refinery.

"S-Scary!" Chopper whined the moment his muzzle was released. "W-what are those things? Are they after us?" Robin merely went up to the two of them, and shook her head.

"I do not know…" she said, looking into the abyss-dark depths of the refinery. "… But I think it was a mistake continuing our journey."


End file.
